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-The Last Hawk 375
ing him the first man in Kam history to hold such a high position.
"I just came from Hayl's suite," he said. "The meds are treating his guards."
"How are they?" Ixpar said.
"Alive. But they'll be in Med for a while. Nesina took it the worst." He shook
his head. "She went crazy when they grabbed Hayl. She wouldn't back off even
after they shot her"
Ixpar swallowed. Guards trained to fight with stunners often plowed on after
being hit, trying to do as much damage as possible before they passed out. She
and Kastora had reacted the same way. Against rifles, that strategy was
suicide.
Elder Solan came up to them, her lined face drawn and pale. "I cannot believe
this happened. We must demand a Council Tribunal against Varz."
Ixpar disengaged her arm from the medic, putting up her hand when the woman
protested. Then she drew Solan to the side. "Varz will refuse to convene a
Tribunal."
"She can't refuse." Solan swept her arm out at the gardens. "Not only was this
outrage a criminal act, it was stupid."
"Avtac never makes stupid moves."
"No Estate will support her after this."
"No?" Ixpar regarded the Elder. "What institution would you guard with your
life, fight to the death to protect?"
"The Calanya, of course."
"The Calanya. Solan, I kidnapped Hayl. I had him playing Quis with Kam Calani.
Including a female Calani, for wind's sake. Avtac's allies probably consider
her use of force justified."
"Justified for what?" Solan watched an aide pull a blanket over Kastora's
body. "All Varz had to do was demand a Tribunal against you."
As the orderlies lifted Kastora onto a stretcher, Ixpar spoke in a subdued
voice. "It makes perfect sense. Hayl didn't want to go back to Varz. For many
reasons, not the least being he knows what Avtac did to Kelric. Given access
to a Speaker and a Tribunal, winds only know what he would say. Avtac needed a
reason to justify attacking Kam and I gave it to her."
376 Catherine Asaro
"You believe this attack had more than one purpose." Solan made it a statement
rather than a question.
"Do you know what the riders that landed in the Calanya brought me? A copy of
Sevtar's Calanya contract." Ixpar exhaled. "There is one reason and one reason
alone why Varz doesn't control Coba. Kelric. Avtac means to get him back and
she can only do that by force."
"Then she hasn't rescued a Calani." Solan paused as the orderlies carried
Kastora's body by them. "She has started a war."
The Kara Skywalk arched into the Teotecs, ending at a hollow globe of tinted
glass high in the mountains. Sunlight diffused through the sphere's polarized
walls, gilding the chamber inside. As Ixpar drew nearer, she saw Kelric
standing by one curved wall, staring out at the sfcy like a metal statue
bathed in amber light.
At the sound of her footsteps, he turned. His gaze raked over the sling on her
arm. "What happened?"
She paused just inside the chamber's entrance. "I got in the way of a bullet."
He shook his head. "I thought the only guns your people had were stunners."
"Things ... change."
"And Hayl?"
"He went back to Varz."
A cloud drifted by the chamber, making a shadow inside the sphere. "I've given
you war," Kelric said. ,
"We've always had it." Dryly she said, "That's all we used to do during the
Old Age."
Kelric cupped his hands together. "Think of the Oath: 'You hold within your
hands and mind the future of Coba.' Your world is a Calanya and the
Restriction is your Oath." He dropped his arms. "When I crashed here that Oath
was broken."
"You didn't create our aggressions."
"I've never known a people as quick as yours." He shook his head. "Coba has
just begun to tap the knowledge buried in the Quis. It's going to break out
like water through a collapsing
The Last Hawk 377
dam, with my influence warping the flow. You have to take me out of the
Calanya. Get me out of the Quis net." "I need you now more than ever," Ixpar
said. "I won't be responsible for the destruction of a world." She walked over
to him. "We are responsible for ourselves, Kelric. That we've suppressed our
violent tendencies doesn't mean they went away. It's time we faced that. Dealt
with it." He touched her sling. "I can see what I've given you." Quietly she
said, "You could have ruined Deha Dahl's life. You didn't. You could have
brutalized Rashiva Haka. You didn't. You could have devastated Varz. You
didn't. Even now, when you work with me to give Kara advantage over Varz, you
marshal your dice to favor Kam rather than hurt Varz."
"I don't see your point. Why hurt Deha or Rashiva? They never wished harm
against me. And why would I make tens of thousands of people in Varz suffer
because their Manager is abusive to her Akasi? It's not their fault."
Ixpar watched his face. "All those years ago, you could have escaped Coba. You
sacrificed your freedom, almost your life, so the Dahl escort could live." Her
voice softened. "Yes, you've put yourself into the Quis. Your decency, your
strength of character, your courage. Your capacity to love."
Kelric's face gentled, crinkling the lines around his eyes. He took her hand
and for a while they just watched the sky that arched everywhere around them
like an ocean of blue.
Far to the north the speck of a rider appeared above the mountains.
"Not another!" Ixpar strode to the co panel where the Skywalk met the chamber.
But then she paused, her hand poised over the co. Something about the rider
looked odd . . . The craft drew nearer. Nearer. Nearer.
Its wings swept through the air in an impossibly huge arc. A chill sped down
Ixpar's back. "It can't be." Kelric glanced at her. "You think this one is
from Varz?" "Not Varz." She took a breath. "Much higher in the mountains."
"There are no Estates higher than Varz."
378Catherine Asaro-
"I know." Softly she said, "It's an althawk, Kelric. A giant althawk."
The bird glided closer until it was clearly visible, a beas' with huge wings,
glorious wings, their span outdoing a windrider. Brilliant red feathers edged
its black wings like tongues of fire and the gold plumage on the rest of its
body gleamed in the sun's pouring light. Ixpar could almost feel the gale that
accompanied every sweep of those massive pinions. Talons as long as a man's
arm curved under its legs.
"Gods," Kelric said. "It's beautiful."
"We thought they were extinct. It's the only one to come down from the
mountains in a thousand years."
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